As they say in the military: "The battle plan goes awry upon first contact with the enemy". I'm in Texas right now, in the midst of the cold, though it will be much warmer and sunny today. I don't have a single backup generator, I have TWO of them. One to run the heat pump, the other smaller one (4KW) to power the lights and refrigerator. I also have a 4WD SUV. It's a great plan, right?
The problem is that there are no snow plows around here, either, and it's 'Hill Country'. There have never been this many days in a row with snow on the ground. The roads were filled with solar melting, then frozen ruts and clumps of ice. The gasoline delivery trucks couldn't get to the gas stations, so many ran out of gasoline, and others were closed since workers couldn't get to the stations. I hadn't considered that.
The generators need gasoline to run. In the 100+ degree summer temperatures here, stored gasoline goes bad in one summer. So you either have to have a complicated storage cycling routine, or not store very much. This was the worst storm considering both temperatures, snow falls and duration, for over a century. People rarely plan, then continuously execute it for an occasion such as this one.
Why not replace your two gasoline generators with ONE large NG generator? (Or, a propane, if you can’t get NG.)
Our NG, whole house generator worked lake a champ during the (thankfully short) time our power was out.
That’s the thing that really keeps me from getting a gasoline generator. It just doesn’t last very not, especially during the summer heat.
So, propane or diesel is the way to go.
Lot of the small generators are dual fuel, will run on either gasoline or propane.
Sounds like you have a good plan. Better than .ost of your fellow Texans.
As for gas, my generator runs on LP gas same as my home heat.
I have 3 - 100 gallon tanks.
After going 8 days without power thanks to Hurricane Sandy I vowed to get better prepared. I’ve gone 2 days “without” power, using my generator.
My neighbors soon followed my lead after seeing me the only one with lights on.
I do hope you stay safe and that everyone without power soon gets it back. It is not fun!!!